If you’re looking for the excitement of a real casino from the comfort of home, live dealer online casino games can bring that experience straight to your screen. Whether you’re playing for real money on platforms like Caesars Palace Online Casino or DraftKings Casino or trying your luck with virtual currency on sweepstakes sites like WOW Vegas or McLuck, live dealer games add an immersive and interactive edge to online gameplay. Read on for our complete expert guide to live dealer games, including how they work, what games are available, and the best sites to play them.
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What Is a Live Dealer Casino?
Live dealer games are streamed in real-time from professional casino studios. These games are hosted by real dealers and streamed in HD, ensuring a high-quality and immersive experience. Typically an online casino will collect all of its live dealer games in a separate section on the site. Look for a “Live Dealer” or “Live Casino” tab alongside other sections like “Slots,” “Table Games,” and so on.
Unlike regular online casino games that use graphics and rely on computer-generated outcomes, live dealer games let you watch every spin of the roulette wheel or deal of the cards as it happens, just like in a physical casino. These games are streamed in real-time using cameras and sensors, providing an authentic and transparent gaming experience. However, in an online casino live dealer game, players place bets on a digital interface, but the outcomes are determined by real-life actions. Cameras stream the dealer and table, while players interact via live chat.
Whether you’re on mobile or desktop, the quality and smoothness of these streams make online live casinos feel more authentic than ever. You get the real casino feel—without having to leave your house. Some live dealer games are also considered among of the best games to win money at online casinos.
Types Of Live Dealer Casino Games
Live Blackjack
Real money blackjack is the most popular live dealer game, and you can usually find it available at a wide variety of stakes. For instance, DraftKings Casino has live dealer blackjack for as little as $1 a hand and as much as $5,000 per hand. Sweeps sites also offer wide ranges of limits, too, such as WOW Vegas where you can play for 20-100,000 WOW Coins or 1-1,000 Sweeps Coins. Look for live dealer blackjack variations, too, such as:
- Free Bet Blackjack
- Lightning Blackjack
- Infinite Blackjack
- Quantum Blackjack
- Gravity Blackjack
Live Roulette
Live dealer roulette for real money is also usually included among the options. Again, you’ll find some sites like BetRivers Casino where you can play for as little as $0.10 or $0.20 a spin, while the sweeps site Jackpota has a Gravity Roulette table where you can play for just 0.10 SC or 0.50 GC. Speaking of, there are many variants available among live dealer roulette games, including:
- American Roulette
- European Roulette
- French Roulette
- Lightning Roulette
- Gravity Roulette
Live Baccarat
Live dealer baccarat for real money is a common option at real money online casinos and also often included at social and sweeps sites. You can bet from $1 to $500 on the Player or Banker in hands of baccarat at Monopoly Casino. Sweeps sites like Stake.us also have multiple baccarat live dealer games with stakes ranging from 0.10 to 50,000 SC and 10K to 500M GC.
Live Craps
Live craps is less common at real money online casinos than other games, and you probably won’t find a live dealer craps game at social and sweepstakes sites which also rarely have regular craps. Sites typically don’t have too many live craps table, but many such as FanDuel Casino offer Craps Live from Evolution Gaming with limits of $0.50 to $5,000 per play.
Live Poker Games
You’ll typically find a variety of poker-based table games in the live dealer format, especially at real money casinos but also at some social and sweeps sites, too. Favorites include Three Card Poker, Casino Hold’em, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. PlayStar Casino even has a live dealer video poker game, as do some of the other sites.
Live Sic Bo
Sic Bo is the popular game from Asia that involves betting on the outcome of a roll of three dice. The game is also like craps in that there are many different bets you can make, from low-risk, low-paying ones to longshots. The live dealer version can be found at at several real money and social/sweeps sites. Also look for Super Sic Bo, a variant BetMGM Casino and other sites feature that adds random multipliers of up to 1000x your stake each round.
Live Game Shows
“Game shows” are live dealer games that play something like a game show with a host, and many of them involve a spinning wheel with a set of outcomes players can wager on. Many real money sites have these games, but social and sweepstakes sites often do as well. Here’s a list of favorites, starting with the wheel games and adding a few others:
- Crazy Time
- Adventures Beyond Wonderland
- Dream Catcher
- Spin a Win
- Fashion TV Mega Party
- Crazy Coin Flip (a multi-part game with multipliers and ending with a coin flip)
- Football Studio Live (a card-based game)
- Stock Market (a Crash-style wagering game)
Other Live Dealer Games
The fun doesn’t stop there, as there are many other unique live dealer games out there, adding some nice variety to the available options. Social and sweeps sites like Chanced and Hello Millions (for example) have most of the following ones:
- Top Card — a baccarat-like game only you’re betting on “offense,” “defense,” or a draw)
- The Kickoff — similar to Top Card, but uses dice; recalls Sic Bo as well)
- Teen Patti — another card-based game that uses poker hand rankings
- Crash Live — bet on a rising multiplier & stay in as it goes higher or cash out before it crashes
- Buffalo Blitz Live — a live slot game with a host managing the play
Real Money Casinos with Live Dealer Games
If you are in a state that has real money online casinos, you’ll be glad to know just about all of them offer live dealer games. Our expert staff has tested all of the sites and recommends the ones listed below as the best live dealer casinos for real money play. Keep in mind that all of these sites prominently feature blackjack and roulette, and most also have baccarat among other games. It is worth noting that live dealer games generally cannot be played for free, as they require real-time hosting and dealer involvement.
| Live Dealer Online Casino | Number of Live Dealer Games | Live Dealer Game Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Caesars Palace Online Casino | 45+ | Race Track Live, Infinite Fun Fun 21, Blackjack en Español, Lightning Dice, Super Sic Bo |
| DraftKings Casino | 60+ | Power Blackjack, Speed Super Sic Bo, Race Track Live, Auto American Roulette Live |
| Hard Rock Bet Casino | 65+ | Triple Card Poker, Speed Baccarat Live, Quantum Blackjack, VIP Blackjack |
| BetMGM Casino | 25+ | Race Track Live, Dream Catcher, Fun Fun 21 |
| Bally Bet Casino | 15+ | Speed Baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold'em |
| BetRivers Casino | 40+ | Buffalo Blitz Live, Casino Hold’em, Cashback Blackjack, Fun Fun 21 |
| Golden Nugget Casino | 60+ | All Bets Blackjack, Race Track Live, VIP Baccarat |
| FanDuel Casino | 40+ | Power Blackjack, Football Studio, FanDuel Exclusive Live Dealer Blackjack & Roulette |
| Monopoly Casino | 15+ | Lightning Roulette |
| PlayStar Casino | 50+ | Video Poker, Crazy Coin Flip, Power Blackjack |
Sweepstakes Casinos with Live Dealer Games
If you’re in a state that doesn’t have real money online casinos, sweepstakes casinos provide a great alternative. These sites use virtual currencies, and in some cases you can redeem your winnings for real cash prizes. Below are some of our recommended social and sweepstakes sites that feature live dealer games. Again, you can take as a given that most of these sites have both live dealer blackjack and roulette, and some have baccarat as well.
| Social & Sweepstakes Live Dealer Casino | Number of Live Dealer Games | Live Dealer Game Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| WOW Vegas | 10 | Joker's Show, Top Card, Live Rush Roulette |
| McLuck | 16 | 7 Seats Blackjack, Crash Live, McLuck American Roulette |
| RealPrize | 6 | Crash Live, Grand Bonus Baccarat, Gravity Blackjack |
| Stake.us | 15 | Stake Exclusives, Royal Riches Roulette, Teen Patti |
| Crown Coins Casino | 1 | Buffalo Blitz Live |
| Mega Bonanza | 7 | Spin a Win, Crash Live, Fashion TV Mega Party |
| Hello Millions | 13 | Grand Bonus Baccarat, Speed Blackjack, Buffalo Blitz Live |
| Chanced | 25 | Virtual Top Card, 360 Blackjack, Take Deal or Risk Blackjack |
| Jackpota | 18 | American Roulette 3D, Top Card, The Kickoff |
| Chumba Casino | 8 | Chumba Spin a Win, Buffalo Blitz Live |
Comparing Real Money vs. Sweepstakes Online Live Casinos
Real money sites are expected to have live dealer games, and indeed it is atypical for a real money casino not to have them. Practically all real money sites have online casino apps as well for both Android and Apple devices, and you can play live dealer games on the apps just like you can on the web-based versions of the sites.
Meanwhile, live dealer games aren’t quite as common on social casinos and sweepstakes sites, although that’s changing fast. Still, there are some very popular sweeps sites that either have no live dealer games (e.g., Pulsz, High 5 Casino) or just a small selection of them (e.g., RealPrize, Chumba Casino). Not all sweeps sites have apps, and in fact more of them don’t have apps than do. The ones that have them, though, do allow you to play live dealer games on the sweepstakes apps.
If you are looking to play live dealer games online and live in a state that has real money online casinos, you are probably better served to seek out those real money sites. On the other hand, if you live in a state that doesn’t have real money online casinos, the social and sweepstakes sites are a great option, generally speaking, and as the table above shows there are plenty of sweeps casinos where you can play live dealer games.
Live Dealer Online Casino Games vs. Regular Online Table Games
Most live dealer games online are live-action versions of the same table games you can play elsewhere on the sites. Some players prefer the “virtual” games while others like the live casino feel of the live dealer games. Here are some points of comparison between the two worth considering as you choose between them:
| Feature | Live Dealer Games | Virtual Table Games |
|---|---|---|
| Game Play | 🙂 A real person physically deals cards or spins a wheel to determine game outcomes. | 📱 A random number generator (RNG) based on the real-life odds of the game determines game outcomes. |
| Availability | 🙂 Available at practically all real money online casinos, but only some social/sweepstakes sites. | 📱 Available at all real money casinos, but only some social/sweepstakes sites. In fact, some sweeps sites have live dealer games but no other table games. |
| Minimum Betting Limits | 🙂 Minimum bets are usually $1 (or 1 SC), although there are sometimes lower-stakes live dealer games available. | 📱 You can often find regular table games that allow very small bets as low as $0.05 or $0.10. Sweeps sites often allow 0.01 SC bets (or even less!). |
| Seating | 🙂 Usually always available, but sometimes a live dealer game at your desired limit might be full, requiring you to wait for a seat to open up. | 📱 No waiting. Seats are always available. |
| Social Element | 🙂 Offers opportunities for social interaction with the dealer and even sometimes with other players, which can add to the fun. | 📱 Generally involves no social interaction with others. |
Are Live Dealer Games Safe and Fair?
Just like other games at legitimate online casinos, live dealer online casino platforms use encrypted technology, licensed software providers, and trained dealers.
The sites that use real money are regulated by state gaming commissions in the jurisdictions where they operate. Sweepstakes sites and social casinos offering sweepstakes-style play also have to comply with promotional content laws in the states where they operate. That means the games at those sites are also audited for safety and fairness as well.
We should note that just like in a retail casino, the dealers who conduct these games at live dealer casinos online are human and therefore can sometimes make mistakes. But just like when playing games in-person, those mistakes are very rare and correctable when they occur.
As long as you stick to the regulated and vetted sites we recommend here at Bonus.com and stay away from unlicensed, “rogue” sites operating without such oversight, you can assume that the live dealer games online are trustworthy and conducted with integrity and fairness.
Tips for Playing Live Dealer Games
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Check your internet connection
Live dealer games require a bit more bandwidth than the other games at online casinos, and if your connection isn’t strong, the games can buffer or glitch or even drop entirely. You certainly don’t want to be in the middle of blackjack hand and ready to ask the dealer for a hit and then become disconnected.
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Be aware of different limits
Live dealer games are often available for very low stakes, but those minimums are still usually higher than other online casino games. Certain tables might have higher minimums as well, so be sure you pay attention and don’t accidentally make a much bigger bet than you intend to at a live dealer game.
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Watch games before playing
You can usually open up a live dealer game and watch it much as you might from the rail at an actual casino. That’s always worth doing before taking a seat and placing your first bet. Take a moment to read the game rules, too, as sometimes live dealer games might involve differences (e.g., extra side bets, jackpot opportunities, etc.).
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Mind the game speed and timeouts
With many live dealer games, you are always “on the clock,” so to speak. For instance, when you play regular online roulette, you have all the time you want to place your bets before clicking “Spin.” At a live roulette table, the time to place bets is limited and will close at a certain point, so be aware of the rhythms of game and be ready to act when the time comes.
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Pay attention to the dealer
The dealers in these games will talk to you, and in some cases you can respond via chat. It’s a good policy when playing to turn up your volume and make sure you can hear what the dealer is saying, as sometimes there might be instructions or reminders. It also can add a lot of entertainment to your play, depending on the dealer’s personality.
The Future of Live Dealer Gaming at Sweepstakes Casinos
As demand grows expect to see more live dealer games at online casinos, including at sweepstakes sites. The rise of high-speed streaming, mobile optimization, and nationwide interest in online live casinos means it’s only a matter of time before more social casinos catch up to their real-money counterparts.
In fact, it is possible to imagine a future in which live dealer games as they exist now may start to rival the popularity of regular virtual casino games, especially once technology advances and the ease with which such games can be played further improves.
Seat Open! Try a Live Dealer Casino Today
For those accustomed to traditional online casino games, live dealer games might initially appear a bit daunting. However, they are certainly worth exploring as they introduce a fresh dynamic to your gaming experience, making it more engaging and enjoyable. Utilize our guide and consider our recommended online live casinos mentioned above when selecting live dealer online casino games.
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